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Born on 31st December, 1915 James Kenneth McTiffin was to become a professional rugby player and later heavyweight wrestler Bearded Ken Davies.
The black beard, said to have been grown whilst serving in the navy during World war two became a trademark of the Maesteg wrestler. For Ken Davies it was his pursuance of a rugby career that led him to move from his Welsh home town Aberavon.
In the summer of 1935 Ken was signed up by fledgling London Rugby League Club Streatham and Mitcham. Whether or not he actually played for the team seems unlikely as their first game was on 7th September, 1935, and the previous month he had joined Dewsbury. By the autumn the McTiffin family were living in Dewsbury, Yorkshire. In August, 1938, he signed for Wakefield Trinity, and played for them until 1940 when he joined the navy.
We discover the name Ken Davies on wrestling bills from 1944 onwards. Ken was a big, rugged wrestler who competed with the top heavyweights like Assirati and Armstrong. Like so many others wrestling seemed to be part of Davies’ genetic make-up that was passed to family members as he fathered another Welsh Heavyweight, Gwyn Davies.
We last found the name Ken Davies on the posters of 1959 but his career continued into the early 1960s as the masked man, The Legionnaire.
Not to be confused wlth Killer Ken Davies, the welsh welterweight. Only the names are the same.
Ken Davies died on 23rd April, 1978.
Page reviewed: 14/04/2022
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